Ice March - Cossack Rising

Cossack Rising

In the period since the beginning of the Ice March in February, the indiscriminate use of Red Terror by the Don Soviet had produced a wholesale reaction among the Cossack population, even among those hostile to the Whites. Small-scale risings against the Communists began to grow in intensity, especially around the area of Novocherkassk. During April, as many as 10,000 cavalrymen gathered at Zaplavskaya, from whence they advanced to recapture the Don capital. Here they elected Pyotr Krasnov as the new Ataman. On his orders the ancient title of All-Great Don Host, last used in the seventeenth century, was recreated. By June, Krasnov had 40,000 men under his command. Denikin and the Volunteer Army was in the best position to take advantage of a dynamic situation. Returning from the south with their fighting ability intact, and hardened by the ordeal of the Ice March, the army of the counter-revolution acquired a new momentum. By the summer, reinforced by Cossack units and armed by the Germans, Denikin was able to mount the Second Kuban Campaign, which was to give him control of much of the south, and a base to mount a serious challenge to the Bolshevik government in Moscow.